Book of Love (16 page)

I forced my eyes shut, listening to the
silence of the house. My thoughts became blurred, and soon I fell
asleep.

In my dream, the mists surrounded me. The
familiar smell of crisp cold air, tinged with the metallic scent of
blood, sent shivers down my spine, but not the shivers you’d
expect. I filled my chest with the sweet air, exhaling away my
anxieties and finding that for a moment, I felt I belonged.

When I opened my eyes, I wasn’t surprised to
see that Max was standing beside me. I looked up at him, watching
his neck tighten and relax as he breathed deep, enjoying the smell
of this place in the same way I did. His hand grazed mine as it sat
limp at my side. I looked down, watching as his fingers traced the
ridge of my knuckles. Tonight, there was no blood on my hands.

Feeling confident, I
grasped his hand and turned toward him.
“Max…”

His head turned toward me, his blue eyes
illuminated by the misty dream. He lifted his finger to my lips,
silencing me. “Just listen,” was all he said.

I turned my head and looked forward into the
mist. I listened, hearing silence, hearing nothing at all. My skin
prickled, sensing another’s presence beside me. I felt someone grab
my other hand, the grip firmer that Max’s had been. It was filled
with a similar feeling of attachment to this place. Shocked, I
turned to look at this new visitor. Another boy stood beside me,
his features dark but his grasp sweet. He had similar features to
those of Max, but sharper, and more defined by frustration.

I knew from the rumors at school that Max
had a brother, a twin brother, though they were not identical. I’d
not yet seen him, but I knew that this was him.

I turned back to Max, seeing that his face
was suddenly angry. Max tried to pull me away from his brother, but
his brother’s grasp on my hand was too intoxicating. I couldn’t let
go. I turned back to face the brother, drawn by a stronger power
that pulsed through my hand. I let go of Max, hearing the brother’s
name speak softly in my head.

“
Gregory,”
I whispered it
back, suddenly knowing his name and wanting to say it out loud.
Gregory smiled and pulled me toward him as though we were dancing,
his hand cupping my cheek. I leaned into his touch, unable to
control myself. He knelt toward me as his lips parted. I did not
move. I couldn’t resist him. Gregory kissed me, his lips cold but
sweet, as though dusted with sugar. I kissed the flavor from them,
but it quickly turned sour.

I furrowed my brow and stepped away, wiping
the bitter taste from my lips. Gregory smiled slyly. I felt
tricked. I turned to find Max, seeing he was backing away from us,
his eyes furious. My heart began to race, the pain of what I’d done
shaking my bones.

“
Max!” I yelled, but he
continued to back away. “Max, I didn’t mean to!”

Gregory began to laugh behind me. I stumbled
and fell to the ground as Max disappeared into the mist. I felt my
hands sink into the Earth, and as I lifted them, they were covered
in blood. My heart began to pound, and I felt the pain in me rise,
drowning my lungs. I took a deep breath and tried to hold it, but
it began to burn. I no longer cared. The scream released into the
silent air, filling my dream with a harsh ring of agony.

The scream was quickly silenced, and I
looked back to where Max had been. He had returned through the
mist, watching me with a pained expression. I looked back at
Gregory, thankful to find that he was gone. Relief washed over me,
and I struggled to stand. I ran toward Max, my hands stained. I
halted before him, as everything else in this place did. He stood
frozen, waiting, his features toward me cold and distant. I grabbed
his hand, but he refused to respond to my touch. His eyes were
blank. He was no longer there.

“
Max, come back, please.” I
reached up, touching his face as I smeared his cheek with
blood.

His eyes flickered with life and he looked
down at me, his jaw fixed. I touched the tips of my fingers to his
lips, and then touched them to mine. He, too, tasted sweet like
sugar, but the flavor lingered with the hint of mint, layered with
a metallic flavor I’d grown used to. Max came back to me as he
tucked a piece of my hair behind my ear, his other hand locking
behind my back possessively.

“
You’re mine,” he
whispered.

Emily:

I laughed as Wes crawled toward me and into
my arms. His coarse monkey hair was rough against my skin, his eyes
darting about the room. He looked up at me with pursed lips,
letting out a spurt of air that mimicked a laugh. His little hand
reached up and touched my cheek, his tiny paw warm against my
skin.

I giggled. “Wes! Stop!”

I continued to laugh. Finding I could barely
breathe, I grasped Wes around the stomach and set him back on the
ground. I took a moment to catch my breath and stop laughing. He
watched me curiously, his eyes blinking rapidly.

Regrouping, I flipped through the book,
finding another animal for him to try. I felt my rebellious side
surface, the image too intriguing to pass by. I tilted the page
toward him, and his small hand grasped the paper. Wes tapped the
image, letting out a diminutive noise as I heard his thoughts
whisper in my head. He jumped up and down, shaking his head with
his tail bobbing.

The image was that of a lion, and though I
knew he’d object, there wasn’t much he could control at the moment.
Wes looked at me with fright in his tiny eyes, but I refused to
allow his small monkey hand to turn the page. A low growl began to
grow in his throat then, echoing off the walls of his room. I
watched with delight as his body shifted and grew, the fur around
his neck changing from a cool grey to a golden brown. The whole
room shook as he let out a loud snarl, finishing the
transformation.

The floorboards creaked under his weight,
his back close to four feet tall. He licked his lips as his tongue
traced over his fangs. He nudged me and I fell over, falling on my
tail bone, letting out a small cry of pain. He stepped toward me,
looming above as my heart raced with fear. His hot breath fell
across my face, his teeth bared. I tried not to be frightened, but
it was hard to forget the lethality of this creature. I gazed into
his golden eyes, my chest tight. Beneath it all, Wes was still
there—and he was laughing.

“
Wes,”
I whispered. His paw
landed on my shoulder, pushing me against the floor. His lion face
was beautiful, the fur layered against his skin in an array of
golds. His eyes were the only thing that linked him to the person
he once was, filled with overwhelming kindness and depth of
emotion. I ran my hand across his fur as my fingers trembled. He
licked my nose and I laughed, smiling at him. “Wes,
stop.”

I felt his body changing once more, and his
massive mane began to shed. I was still pinned under his weight,
and the licking changed to something else entirely. I felt his warm
bare hand on my shoulder, still pushing me against the floor. He
kissed my cheek, then my lips, his bare chest leaning against me.
“I don’t want to stop,” he whispered.

I pushed my body against him, my hands
trailing down his now smooth back as I let myself enjoy the moment.
I listened to the whispers in his head, hearing things I’d longed
to hear. He kissed my neck, my hand, my cheek.

What was Jane thinking?

How could she not find Wes irresistible? I
knew coming over here that triggering his talent also triggered his
emotions, but I didn’t care. The sooner he could understand who I
really was beyond what he’d previously thought, the sooner he would
see that it was me he should have loved all along.

“
Wes,” I said his name one
last time, but he silenced me with his mouth, refusing to let me
stop him.

His body against mine was luxurious, his
hands covering every inch of my skin. I took a sharp intake of
breath as his hand grazed across my stomach, reaching for my skirt.
I froze as my innocence overcame me. Gripping his arm, and
mustering all the strength I could, I rolled him over and pinned
him to the ground—a feat not easily executed.

“
Wes, stop.”

He was breathing hard, the fact of his near
nudity a guiltless turn on. His hand rested on my upper thigh,
inching up. My hand went quickly to his, stopping him.

“
Slow down, okay?” I’d
lived the lie long enough.

Wes stopped, smiling as he grabbed a nearby
blanket, wrapping us both in it. He pulled the wool around me,
pulling my head against his chest. My stomach lay against his, my
arms shaking.

His chin was resting on my head. “Sorry,” he
apologized, but I knew he wasn’t all that sorry.

“
I just—” I bit my lip, my
hand on his chest. For all I’d portrayed about my image, this lie
was the worst. I wished he could hear what I thought. “I’ve never…”
My words trailed, hoping he could fill in the blanks.

Wes laughed, as though he didn’t believe me.
“What?”

“
No, I’m serious.” I pushed
away from him, looking into his golden eyes.

He sat up, and I slid to his side. “Really?
But you…”

I felt ashamed, but it was my M.O. to make
people think I was someone other than who I was. Then again, who in
their right mind would want to lie about being a corrupted freak
like me? But I did. It had kept people away from me. Besides, I’d
wanted to stand out, especially to Wes, but no matter how hard I
tried to get his attention, nothing had worked—until now. Though I
feared this new boy Jane was hanging out with, at the same time, I
loved that it had made Wes finally see that she would never love
him the way he wanted, the way I could.

“
I’m barely sixteen, Wes.
And I know that’s young. So what I’m saying is that I’m not
stupid.” I knew that when I was fourteen, Jane was convinced I’d
already lost my virginity. She hated me because of this, but in
truth, she didn’t understand the fact that I could look the way I
did and still have morals. It was the accusation on her part that
had finally turned me against her. I stopped confiding in her like
a sister, because no matter what I said or did, she just expected
the worst from me based on appearances alone. It was a lost cause,
and I’d given up. “Besides, Wes, like we discussed earlier—when you
know what all those boys are thinking, it sort of takes the romance
out of it.”

Wes ran his hand through
my hair. “I always thought that—
I
mean
—you’re sister always told
me…”

I shook my head. “She doesn’t know anything
about me,” I mumbled with a hint of self pity.

Wes snorted. “But
my
thoughts aren’t a
turn off, are they?” He looked a little worried.

I laughed. “You’re
different, Wes. You were the only person I ever wished I
would
hear those
thoughts from.”

He leaned up and kissed my forehead. “You
know, Em, you really are something else.”

I smiled to myself. Finally, he did see me
for who I was, and he’d liked it.

“
Do you want something to
eat?” he asked, one arm resting behind his head, the other hooked
around the small of my waist.

I didn’t want to move away from him, afraid
that when he stood, the moment would be over and his guilty
thoughts toward Jane would return.

“
Sure.” I agreed in order
to seem agreeable. When we stood, though, Jane’s name was never
whispered in his thoughts.

I grinned, hoping the beginning of their end
was here.

Max:

“
What the Hell was that?” I
demanded, grabbing Greg off the couch and holding him in the air.
My wings hung from my back. I was undeniably angry.

Greg laughed, enjoying my
rage. “It was just a little fun, Brother. I walked in here, saw you
dozing, and figured you were there with
her
. You left yourself open, so I
just followed the trail.”

I threw him across the room and he slammed
into the wall. “I hate you.”

Greg stood, brushing himself off, not
bothering to reciprocate my desire to fight.

“
Come on, fight!” I yelled,
but Greg just stood there, mocking me.

He shook his head. “No.”

I grumbled and walked from the room,
slamming the door behind me, splintering the frame as a result. I’d
felt Jane’s emotions as he kissed her. Even if they were fake
feelings that had been planted by Greg, it still hurt. My own
brother was betraying my every chance at happiness.

I stretched my arm. My shoulder hurt,
feeling the pain that my brother now felt from the way I’d thrown
him across the room. I heard the door open, falling off the failing
hinges.

Greg followed behind me.
“She tastes
good,”
he crooned. “But you wouldn’t know that,
would you?
And you’re right. Her
brush with death gives her a certain
pizzazz,
doesn’t it?”

I squeezed my eyes shut, my hands clenched.
I punched the wall in the hallway, leaving a gaping hole. My wings
scraped against the walls, causing strips of wallpaper to flutter
to the floor.

I couldn’t be angry with Jane because it
wasn’t her fault. All I was left with was anger for Greg. He had a
way of brainwashing anyone he wanted, intoxicating them into doing
terrible things. I needed a way to stop him. But what could I do
that wouldn’t also harm me?

“
She
is
mine,”
I hissed. My wings fluffed as I said it, staking my
claim.